Student news wrap 02/05/18

The recent suspension of 23 students at the Islamic University in Uganda for having sex on campus has raised questions over the level of control a university may have over students’ lives. The students have appealed the decision, saying that the university is too harsh.

“I find it so astonishing that the committee based its judgment on an offence I committed two years ago when I had just joined campus. The punishment is too harsh,” one of the students told the Daily Monitor, saying he’d been suspended for having drunk alcohol two years before. – Read more on the Daily Monitor site

UK university will force students to sign contract promising not to take drugs

The University of Buckingham aims to become the first in the country to bring in a “drug-free” policy to force students to sign a contract not to take drugs on university grounds upon threat of expulsion.

The announcement comes as the National Union of Students published a report urging universities to stop reporting students to the police for possession of drugs, after figures revealed that hundreds of incidents were reported last year. – Read the article on the Independent site

Pilot project collects graduate data to boost African employability

The British Council is carrying out a pilot project using cellphones to collect data from graduates about how easily they were able to find work upon completing their studies. The pilot project has been launched at the University of Western Cape as well as Ghana and Lagos and focuses on Pharmacy graduates for now.

The exit surveys cover questions such as how long it takes graduates to find a job, what resources they used to do so, who is employing them, with a view towards improving relations between universities and employers and to improve their curriculum to better prepare graduates for the working world. The council plans to roll the project out to more universities and expand to a more common degree such as commerce. – Read more on this project on the University World News site – Read more on this project on the University World News site

University still in ruins three years after earthquake (Nepal)

Three years since a devastating earthquake hit Nepal, the reconstruction of academic and administrative buildings of the country’s universities and colleges has made little headway, mainly because of inadequate funding. Among the nine universities severely damaged or completely ruined during the 2015 earthquake, Tribhuvan University and Nepal Sanskrit University suffered the greatest losses. Some 54 community colleges mainly affiliated with TU also collapsed in the disaster and 171 suffered damage. Read more on the University World News site.